• Stiff/Disjointed video game like plot progression – My biggest issue with the drama is that the plot often moved too much like a video game but without the emotional beats to really connect to the story. Han Li would be given a task, he would keep his head down while figuring out how to complete the task, then participate in a big fight to complete said task and level up. Rinse and repeat. There were even scenes when he was in Huang Feng sect where he had the option to complete tasks in exchange for magical stones (aka money) that were based on difficulty which is what happens in video games.
• It meant that many of the side characters only had brief interactions with Han Li such that connections to these characters felt fleeting and unimpactful. Often times when someone died, there would be limited emotional tie and therefore quite forgettable in the grand scheme of the story. 
• This also meant that Han Li’s story was happening basically on its own path while Wang Chan’s demon clan storyline was happening as well. There was limited overlap for quite some time and I didn’t care much for this antagonist’s storyline. 
• Romance(s) – While I appreciated that Han Li was very much focused on his journey of spiritual ascension rather than romance, the various romance subplots had me scratching my head. This is a male centric drama akin to Joy of Life where the main male lead is the key character. It is my understanding that in the book and animated series, Han Li has several wives or loves. In the drama, many women are attracted to him but Nan Gong Wan is supposed to be his “main pairing”. However, apart from Cai Huan, I could not get into the “ships” at all. Main female lead Nan Gong Wan was probably one of the least visible female leads of any drama I’ve watched and that includes Joy of Life. If people criticize Lin Wan’Er for being a sidelined female lead, I thought Nan Gong Wan suffered even more. The 2 had an amorous liaison and then she disappeared for quite some time. While I saw her getting somewhat flustered, I could never tell if he actually had romantic attachments towards her.
• The issue is that Han Li would bop around from plot line to plot line which meant that the emotional hits don’t land. The only one where I could ship was him and Cai Huan who is sadly a human. Both know there is no possible way they could be together simply based on their life spans so they each wish the other well. But Chen Qiao Qian? She came off as more of a mild annoyance for Han Li. Yes, Han Li kept his distance and drugged her to make her forget their interactions but overall it felt forced. Same thing with Dong Xuan’er’s interactions. 
• Poor CGI everywhere else – I praised the large scale fight scenes and impressive visual effects in those big fights but the CGI for the rest of the drama was hilariously bad. You could tell that folks were sitting in front of a green screen with the poor quality backgrounds. In some scenes I felt like we regressed back to the 1980s style Journey to the West style CGI. Evidently, there wasn’t enough money for every component of the drama…
• Set/Costumes – Once again, I’m assuming a shortcoming of a limited budget. For the set, I liked that the drama went to film on location in Xin Jiang province so there was plenty of natural beauty. But, it was basically the same scenery for most of the show. I saw some funny comments online saying that the entire Huang Feng sect just sat on tree trunks, that was their entire real estate property. They were too poor to have their own buildings. And yea…that’s basically the feeling throughout the show. As for costumes….oh my god. I reeeally disliked them for this drama. We’ve been spoiled from the beautifully intricate designs for many other dramas that these look comically cheap… Oh well. 

Let me know what you think!

Karen